Cladding At The Edge...

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

HumbleHomeCook

Embrace your knifesculinity!
KKF Supporting Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2020
Messages
8,723
Reaction score
19,248
Location
PNW USA
I wonder how KKF'ers feel about cladding that extends all the way to edge on a new knife?

Today, I was seriously considering a custom knife I saw on IG but as I looked closer, I saw a spot about 1/4"-3/8" where the cladding touches the edge. I immediately lost interest.

To me, that just means that in a short time I'm going to have to deal with that spot and I'm not very good at finishing so dealing with it and keeping a presentable overall look are an issue for me. I know this can be said for just about any knife but this one is highly "figured" with a very intentional look to it. You can hide finishing shortcomings much easier on a KU, more rustic finish. 😁

Am I misguided here?
 
I can only see two reasons why there would be cladding at the edge

1. the knife is too think BTE, deal breaker for a new knife unless its super cheap and I'm looking for a project
2. The core steel was forged too thin, also deal breaker
 
Cladding to the edge would seem to mean that at that point, the core is off center to the other side and was filled in by cladding. The issue would be that if the core is all past the center line in that area, you will end up and un-sharpenable edge as it will be cladding.

Or you could be dealing with a cheap *ss knife the Tojiro shirogami, which is basically 98% cladding and 2% core, and the cladding is down to the edge everywhere.
 
Deal breaker for me, for sure.

Not that it always affects the usability, but I sure as hell don't want to have to deal with it.
 
Not at all being a smartass here but how close is okay for you? Not precise, just general. I know there's probably some feel and specific knife case involved but curious where you start backing out?
Yeah. Specific knife case is one with chaotic clad line (like Y Tanaka). I would say a few mm from the edge, so it should be very clear in a non-close-up picture that it isn't touching. This gives a margin for error that it will probably never be an issue.
 
Back
Top